Gove reiterates UK support for local farming industry after exit from European Union

UK Agriculture minister, Michael Gove, reiterated his commitment to the local farming industry in a speech at a gala dinner in Ballymena last Thursday, hosted by North Antrim DUP MP, Ian Paisley.The minister, a strong supporter of the decision to leave the European Union, was in the province to meet a wide range of groups, including Ulster farmers' leaders and Department of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs officials. Mr Gove later addressed guests at a dinner in the Tullyglass House Hotel, including the Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, councillor Paul Reid, Chief Constable, George Hamilton, Invest NI chief executive, Alastair Hamilton, Norrth Antrim MLA, Mervyn Storey, folrmer South Antrim UUP MP, Danny Kinahan, councillors and executives from leading local agri-food companies.In a wide ranging address on 'Brexit' issues and the implications for business, he stressed the needs of Northern Ireland's farming community would be central to his thinking as negotiations moved towards the crucial future trading relationships between the UK and Europe.The Government has already pledged it will match the £3billion that farmers currently receive in support from the CAP until 2022.Mr Gove is on record as stating, while he wished to ensure continued "generous" support for farmers after that, it could only be argued for against other competing public goods if the environmental benefits of that spending were clear.